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The Catholics are surprised that any Protestants were allowed in, the strict Baptists are surprised that any flakey Pentecostals are there, the flakey Pentecostals are surprised at the number of stodgy Presbyterians there are…etc.

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What amazing love Jesus had for his ragtag bunch of bickering self promoters! What an example for us. I think that is the point. We will be known by our love. But love is anything but timid and passive!

Jesus had strong words for the self-righteous, but he loved them to death. He looked on those who pierced him with forgiveness.

Speaking the truth in love is not whining. One of the jobs of the pastor is lift people’s gaze above the mundane (i.e. mundus – things of this world) to the eternal.

We are quick to divide over dumb things that don’t matter. Jesus chastised the Pharisees for placing so much importance on the traditions of men. A pastor (and contributor here) called me a heretic for not being amillennial. Well, that poor fellow was dividing us over a trivial (though interesting) topic with no eternal consequence.

As iron sharpens iron, I prefer to edify and sharpen fellow believers rather than letting such bitterness continue. And, on the many occasions when I say something wrong, I am thankful for those who take the time to correct me!

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I still think there IS room for discussion.

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My purpose was to be a little more endearing about the things that delineate our denominations so profoundly. If you’ll go back and look at the post, I admitted that “Churches are made of people, and people are broken, and the way we do church is broken. Every church, even the ones who’ve got things mostly right, does a lot wrong.” One of the things our churches often do wrong is to beat dead horses, and I gave examples of that in my post. I should have written in a more endearing tone, as those clichés of various denominations – e.g., the way we Presbyterians love hearing about predestination and depravity – are also comforting to us, reminding us why our theology aligns most readily with that particular denomination.

I believe it’s healthy to discuss what churches could do better – since that seems to be the subject of much of the New Testament – but forgive me for making that idea come off as chatty, trivial, and inconsequential. And thank you all for reading, and for caring enough to comment.

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Perhaps HSK’s question could have been phrased better.

Pauline is correct – it is not something insurmountable, just a concern about the limitations the Lectionary poses, and certainly no reason to leave. Having said that, I see and understand the reason for the Lectionary find that it is one of the things that unites us with other believers who use it. That is a good thing. There are ways to deal with the limitations.

I also think that because we are all fallen, in every denomination and in every body of believers, there is room for improvement. I also believe that frank discussion of the matter could help us all as long as it does not degenerate into bashing.

Having attended a number of churches and military chapels due to a nomadic lifestyle with the military, I could easily stand on the outside of each and cast stones at lots of denominations and bodies I have come accross.

You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken, and squelching discussion on the issue does not help. At the same time, caution should be exercised in expressing these things. It might just be an eye opener to find out how we come accross to the unbeliever who comes through our doors to check us out.

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KLasko is concerned that the use of the Lectionary limits the scope of expository preaching. But she is apparently satisfied on the whole with her church. I managed to think of one minor point about my church – something I did mention to the pastor but which is hardly reason to leave. Neither of those is an issue unique to our particular churches or a reflection on the individuals who lead them, but rather a common characteristic in many churches that are for the most part very good.

I did not see HSK’s invitation as one to gripe about our churches and their leadership but rather to share ways in which we recognize the common ways in which our churches fall short of fully teaching/living out the Gospel.

It’s hardly news to anyone who is at all familiar with Evangelical churches that some put an awful lot of emphasis on depravity while others go out of their way to be “seeker-sensitive.” There have certainly been plenty of complaints on various threads on this blog about the shallowness of certain styles of music used in worship.

I think it would say a lot more to non-Christians who visit this blog to take note of those shortcomings, agree that some are minor enough that we can still find spiritual nurture in that church, and perhaps talk about how some of them might be corrected, rather than refusing to talk about them at all.

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